High time for film at the Film House
The film awards season culminates with the Academy Awards on Sunday, March 4.
While it may be considered old- fashioned in circles where attention is more fleeting, the Oscars are a mammoth media event reaching tens of millions in more than 200 countries.
This February and March, Film House audiences have the opportunity to see no fewer than 15 films distinguished with prestigious accolades in the past year.
The film awards cycle is an arduous process beginning in October as films vie for acclaim from various guilds and associations.
The result of all the thoughtful consideration — and no small share of industry machinations — is something more than a shortlist of the year’s best; like all of the arts, film holds a mirror to our world. From the oligarchical poisoning of American politics to the ongoing struggle for racial and gender equity, the films that are attracting our attention point to the preoccupations of the day.
The current upheaval of scandal over systemic sexual harassment and gender- based abuses of power had its epicentre in the most powerful offices of Hollywood. That only four women in Oscar history have ever been lauded as best director ( Lina Wertmuller, Jane Campion, Sofia Coppola and Karthryn Bigelow), will rightfully draw scrutiny to Greta Gerwig’s Oscar nomination for her directorial debut, Lady Bird [ screening at the end of February].
Get Out, Hostiles, Call Me By Your Name, Three Billboards in Ebbing, Missouri and a Fantastic Woman all speak directly to today’s racial, gender and class issues — and all screen at the Film House in February and March.
Dunkirk, nominated for an Academy Award for best- picture [ screening at the end of February and beginning of March] is part of the current fixation with Britain’s historic ‘ finest hours,’ a cinematic phenomena that is impacting debates about Brexit. Ai Wei Wei’s Human Flow [ screening Feb. 21, 23, 28] is a visceral exploration of the growing refugee crisis as millions seek shelter from famine, persecution and war.
Added to the roster is one of the most acclaimed films of 2017, the documentary Faces Places. Heralded as a cinema experience that changes the way we think about where we live, it arrives in St. Catharines as we aspire to develop more compassion as our citizenry becomes increasingly divided by class and economic disparity.
Though many titles presented at the Film House are very much about the here and now, the eyes of our programming team look in all directions and there are a slew of other engaging titles coming in the next couple of months. Take for instance, Stairway to Heaven, a visually- ravishing masterpiece from the 1940s starring Kim Hunter and David Niven seldom experienced on the big screen [ screening March 25 and 31].
We’re also searching for new ways for audiences to experience film.
On the heels of December’s screenings of the cult favourite The Room, March sees what we hope is the first of many latenight screenings. Members can cast their votes for one of three tirelessly weird titles to screen at 11: 30 p. m. on Saturday, March 10: The Big Lebowski, Brain Damage and the resurrected Turkish disasterpiece The Sword and the Claw.
The Film House brings the best and the extraordinary to St. Catharines, there is cinema for everyone here.